tvalosin
(Thomas G. Valosin, NYS Lic 16000005194)
1
On 7 Feb, I attended the meeting of the NY State DOS/DOL Home Inspection Advisory Council at the Smith Office Building in Albany.
They reported that progress has been made by the sub-committees responsible for formulation of a NY State Home Inspectors COE and SOP.
Draft copies are being submitted to Legal for evaluation. The draft will then be returned to the Advisory Group for review prior to submission to the Secretary of State. After the Secretary approves the document(s), there will be a window of opportunity for comments from the public. Then, after considering public comment, final “tweaking” of the document will be made through the Council, Legal and the Secretary. After that procedure, the Secretary will have the final form made official, published, and it will become our “Guiding Light” here in New York State.
Regarding Continuing Education - The group is fully cognizant that no firm guidelines for CE Program Material have yet been issued. They did advise however that anyone planning to instruct get the correct form from their website and submit the instructors credentials.
Acknowledging that inspectors who were among the first group to be issued licenses (late Dec 05 and Jan 06) are now into the 2nd month of the 2nd year of their 2 year license term, and that it may take a few more months for the Department and the Educational Providers to get ramped up and ready, a motion was made by the Council that this group of inspectors not have to meet the full 24 hours of CE. Provided it can be approved by both Legal and the Secretary, this initially licensed group of inspectors may be allowed to have only 3 NYS Approved CE Hours. (It had already been accepted that the inspectors in the first 2 years of their licensing would probably only need 12 hours)
For those planning on providing CE. There will be NO APPROVALS for distance learning. All CE, and the associated test, will have to be in person.
A period of public comment was held. Concern was expressed regarding:
unlicensed inspectors 2. lack of displayed license number in advertisements 3. PEs’ who are doing HI as primary business, advertising as HI Service, without a HI License. ( My interpretation : The PEs’ are supposed to do HI only incidental to their PE business - example: they inspect while doing an engineering evaluation for a possible addition - if they actually advertise as doing HI, they must have a HI License) 4. Schools doing a dis-service to the public by teaching to the test 5. Teachers who are not teaching, just running some type of visual aid (they may not even be in the room) and calling it as meeting requirement 6. Field experience module not being a real inspection of an actual property.
The council indicated the publics input would be taken under advisement and consideration for discussion.
Tom Valosin, President, NY Capital Region Chapter of NACHI
NACHI NY SEA
I believe the council has nothing to say regarding public input. As I recall, the public may debate the council when it is in session, and speak directly to the DOS/DOL folks.
The council is advisory, and has no special authority. Presently, they are functioning as a quorum, no. They do not even have a complete panel.
How are they doing? Are they meeting behind closed doors, and acting autonomously? Do they seem like good folks?
Don’t hold your breath on the CE course approvals if how they handled the initially licensing and the way they are dragging their feet on CE approval guidelines/forms is an indication. Maybe they will do the same thing they did with the initial licensing and come out with forms/procedures like 2 months before the deadline and expect everyone to comply. I think there will need to be an extended grace period.
NYSDOS has interpreted that only if a PE opens a business solely to do home inspections, then they must get a HI License (submit copy of PE license and pay a fee … :roll: )
For PE’s like myself that have been doing full commercial building inspections and PCA’s, as well as home inspections, for over 20 years as just part of my consulting business … does it really make sense that I need to get what just amounts to filling out more state paperwork and paying even more fees? For PE’s practicing outside of thier area of expertise (e.g. electrical engineer with no special training/experience doing a home/building inspection) that is “professional misconduct” … a very serious thing with NYSDOE Office of the Professions.
Particularly since the NYSDOE Office of the Professions (licenses engineers) already has a position that the inspection and evaluation of buildings (residential and commercial) constitutes the practice of engineering. So if I just do the inspection, and not also an evaluation of the systems I inspected, I need yet another license and pay more fees … ludicrous in my opinion … :roll:
P.S. I dont think any sane PE would put his license on the line (4 yrs of brutal schooling, followed by an all day absolutely brutal principals exam, another 4 yrs on indentured servitude under direct PE supervision, followed by yet another all day brutal practice exam) with the strict NYSDOE OP provisions on professional misconduct for a few hundred bucks a pop.
At LIU where I teach in the HI program, we had many PE take the HI training program before licensing was even on the radar in NY for just that reason.
